Man arrested for alleged disgusting act at SC grocery store

A man has been arrested and charged for spraying what’s been reported as feces on produce in a Charleston grocery store Sunday.

Pau S. Hang, 41, is charged with damage to personal property, according to Charleston police public information officer Charles E. Francis, adding police responded to the store at 1 p.m. when they took Hang into custody.

Hang is accused of spraying a brown liquid from a spray bottle onto to some of the produce in a Charleston Harris Teeter grocery store, according to Francis.

Police don’t know the type of liquid that was used, but it was reported as feces by postandcourier.com. The spray bottle has been confiscated by the police department’s Crime Scene Unit, according to Francis, adding the bottle and its content will be tested to determine what’s in the liquid.

Hang was on trespass notice for this location, according to Francis. He was called a disgruntled, former contractor by postandcourier.com.

The manager at the store directed all questions to Harris Teeter’s corporate customer service, which failed to respond to requests for information on Sunday.

The produce section of the store was closed and the produce removed, said Francis, adding the produce section will be cleaned and will reopen after it has been inspected by DHEC.

The manager at the Charleston store confirmed to The State that the affected departments remained closed on Sunday afternoon.

“We were extremely alarmed and disappointed to learn that today, a disgruntled, former contractor attempted to contaminate food products in the Produce department and Fresh Foods department inside our St. Andrews Shopping Center location,” Harris Teeter spokesperson Danna Robinson said in a news release, according to postandcourier.com.

This story was originally published October 15, 2017 at 5:11 PM with the headline "Man arrested for alleged disgusting act at SC grocery store."